Winning the T20 series is a priority for India, says Dean Jones

Suresh Raina, who was dropped from the ODI squad, is an integral part of the T20 team.IANS

Australia defeated India 4-1 in the recently concluded ODI series, but former player Dean Jones believes MS Dhoni's men have a better team when it comes to T20 cricket. India face Australia in a three-match T20 series, which starts on Tuesday at the Adelaide Oval.

Compared to the one-day team which lost against Australia, there are some major changes with senior members getting a chance to impress Down Under. Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh are the senior pros, who will use their experience of playing international cricket to help India emerge victorious.

Suresh Raina, who was dropped from the ODI series, will also feature in the T20 series.

The ODI series witnessed a number of youngsters like Gurkeerat Singh, Manish Pandey, Rishi Dhawan and Jasprit Bumrah getting a chance to represent India. However, youngsters might not get that many chances in the T20 series, as India want to settle on a solid playing XI for the World T20. This India-Australia T20 series will act as perfect preparation for the mega event.

"The bottomline is what India, and MS Dhoni, want out of this tour. I am sure they wanted to win the ODI series but they were also giving a lot of youngsters chances in the ODIs. I think India will be more worried about winning the T20 series. That's the priority," PTI quoted Jones as saying.

"You want to pick your team for the World T20 now and give the players some matches to get ready for that tournament."

With Yuvraj in the middle order, India will have the much-needed firepower and experience. Yuvraj and Dhoni can play an important role in the T20 series with their hitting prowess. Yuvraj can also contrinute with his left-arm spin.

"Look, I think India are much better balanced in Twenty20 cricket; they have good top three batsmen, MS Dhoni is the finisher in the middle, Yuvraj is coming too and then you have the spinners. It is a balanced side, just not for ODIs in Australia," said Jones.

"Form is everything in T20 cricket. For example, if Yuvraj can get some runs here, it will get his confidence going. You pitch it up to him then and he will whack it. That's what the T20 game is about -- confidence."

India, who while having experience of some senior players, need to play some quality cricket if they are to win the three-match T20 series. Australia are always a strong team at home, irrespective of the format.